Ethiopia urges Tigray rebels to join ceasefire, hostilities persist

FILE PHOTO: A woman carries an infant as she queues in line for food, at the Tsehaye primary school, which was turned into a temporary shelter for people displaced by conflict, in the town of Shire, Tigray region, Ethiopia, March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's government urged Tigrayan rebels to join a unilateral ceasefire in their conflict on Thursday as aid agencies struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of people facing famine.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the former rulers of Ethiopia's Tigray region, said on Monday it was back in control of the regional capital Mekelle after nearly eight months of fighting.